Yeah! You go, boy!

Greg Maddux gets win #324 of his career, tying him with Don Sutton and Nolan Ryan for all time wins. I guess, in some ways, it's ridiculous that I feel this way, but screw it... Doggie, I'm SO proud of you, baby!!

We had an hour and one minute worth of rain delay, but Doggie kept his arm hot, came back out and kicked ass!

Break out the BIG bag of chips!!

Can you believe it? An actual win! An actual good, clean win! I'm pretty sure that Doggie is enjoying a big bag of chips about now!

It was a good game, even though poor Todd Walker took a ball to the jaw/neck at one point. I guess that one could argue that it was an attempt to make sure that he was awake on first base...?

I'm just glad that we got a win: hopefully it will transfer over to Doggie's start tomorrow night! After all, I like chips!! :-)

My mother has always said that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result".

Well, if that's true (which I think it is), then the Cubs organization is worse off than I thought. They've demonstrated multiple signs of insanity: let me lay a few of them out for you (there's a chain reaction here as well, which is notable)...

#1 Depending on Kerry Wood to "someday" come back and lead the charge when Wood can't pitch reliably; to make it even better, they know this and so does Wood, but they keep playing this game.

#2 Calling up completely inexperienced pitchers from AAA Iowa to fill Wood's spot: these poor guys invariably give up an immense number of runs and then get sent back down after they've gotten us another loss.

#3 When a relief pitcher gets into a jam, Dusty and his crew just sit there and watch him hang himself and the team. Yesterday, Novoa gave up five runs in an inning while Dusty did his best to pretend that he couldn't see it. Now, what did he do after Novoa somehow managed to get out of that inning? Why, he sent the same scared and ineffective kid back out to the mound for ANOTHER one!

#4 Dusty and Hendry spend all of their time trying to convince each other and the media that they're both great guys who know what they're doing... which is bullshit.

I don't know what's worse, how completely irresponsible it is, or how insane it is, that this club is being run this way.

It's fucked up, it's twisted... and somebody needs to do something!!

By now, I think that all of you out there have heard about the incident at the plate on Saturday afternoon, in which Michael Barrett got slammed by the White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski.

Barrett later said that the only reason that he tried to KO Pierzynski was that he (Barrett) was "irritated". I'll admit, as a Cubs fan and knowing all of the smack that gets tossed around when the Sox meet us, I have a feeling that Pierzynski said something, perhaps when he was at bat, to get Barrett started. Pierzynski has a history of both talking trash and pushing other players to the brink.

I don't, however, condone the behavior of Barrett, especially not during the cross-town series. It's a volatile crowd even when the players aren't at each other's throats. Flipping out didn't help anybody in this situation. It can get tense when these two teams interact, but that should never make violence acceptable.

Why couldn't Barrett just pull a Doggie and take out his frustrations on a Louisville Slugger?

I hate US Cellular Field... but I hate the White Sox more. I know that most of you out there can't understand why we Cubs faithful detest the Sox so much, but we do... and believe you me, it's right back at us. I managed to fall into some bleacher tickets for todays game.  Sporting my Cubbie-Blue t-shirt, I was harassed (albeit in a playful way, so no one got hurt) by no less than three Sox fans, all males. Two of them used their little brooms (since they were hoping for a sweep) in order to needle me, and another told me I was on the wrong side of town. Whatever, blase, blase...

In the stands, I found more of my kindred spirits, and was lucky to sit next to a complete stranger who was a Cubs fan. The majority of the interaction between the Cubs and Sox fans was amiable ribbing... although later in the game, across the park, a huge fight broke out which led to about twenty (no joke) security guards being summoned.

The game went by really fast: Zman was in control once more, except for a minor issue in the 4th inning where he was frustrated and motioned that he would hit a batter in the neck if he could. I love you Zman, and you have great stuff, but please rope it in! No more fights where my Old Man has to rush onto the field in an attempt to break it up...

Speaking of, I was pretty far away, but I was still able to make out my Doggie in the dugout. I was tempted to flash him for a moment, but then decided no, these Sox fans and players don't deserve it! :-) So I just drooled from afar, settled in and watched my boys get a much needed win.

As I left the park, satisfied in one way and totally wishing I had a pass for the Cubs locker-room ("Hey, Mad Dog... You wanna become a member of the 'Do it in every park club'?"), I met many of my kindred Cubs fans. We high-fived one another... I saw a little girl wearing a Doggie jersey and told her it was awesome...

All in all, a good day...